The field of recreational board games that competitively match suits with one another along with the element of chance has always been intriguing. This intrigue is enhanced when the game is complicated enough to require strategy and thought to complete the game is less moves and/or in a shorter time than a competing player. Further moves may be planned well in advance requiring thought and tactical strategy.
There are currently many types of games that can be played by two players using the principle of placing objects on a board or similar structure with the purpose of aligning a series of objects in a vertical or horizontal row. As an example, checkers is played on a board having alternately dark and light colors using opposed sets of pieces and has enjoyed popularity for centuries. Other similar games include two and three dimensional tick-tack-toe. The three dimensional tick-tack-toe employs the same basic principle as the two dimensional game except it uses a series of stacked transparent boards achieving an alignment of pieces in the third dimension.
The instant invention allows a game to be competitively played by either one person against another person, or a plurality of persons which share in selecting the strategy of the next move. The prior art disclosed games with structures using similar principles. However, these prior-art games have limitations in that most must be played with at least two players and the rules and strategy for playing the game differ from those of the instant invention.
A search of the prior art did not disclose any patents that read directly on the claims of the instant invention. However, the following U.S. patents were considered related:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. INVENTOR ISSUED ______________________________________ 2,485,143 Duncan 18 October 1949 3,556,526 Currie 19 January 1971 3,561,774 Brinser 9 February 1971 4,119,320 Chorba et al 10 October 1978 4,979,748 Danielak et al 25 December 1990 ______________________________________
The Duncan 2,485,143 patent discloses a three dimensional tick-tack-toe game with pawns having a socket on the top and a stem on the bottom. The game is played with a square board having nine holes and opposing pawns are placed one on top of the other until, three pawns in a row are aligned.
The Currie 3,556,526 patent discloses a board game having eight upstanding pegs and a set of tokens. Each opponent set has opposite magnetic poles thus positioning the tokens in an interspacial array on the poles. The object of the game is to align three like tokens.
The Brinser 3,561,774 patent discloses a board game having nine support members and a set of tokens. The support members are uprightly mounted and have three different diameters and the playing tokens are also in sets of three diameters each complimentary with the other. The object of the game is to align like tokens.
The Chorba et al 4,119,320 patent discloses a game with a triangular board and nine elongated pegs placed in rows of three discrete groupings. The playing pieces have a hole allowing accommodation by the pegs. A wild piece having a separate color is used in play and the three dimensional alignment is used as the object of the game.
The Danielak et al 4,979,748 patent discloses a token aligning three-dimensional strategy game using five aligned tubes with an opaque upper portion and a transparent lower portion. Tokens are alternately placed in the tubes and a pin is pulled dropping the balls into the transparent section. The object of the game is to align the hidden tokens in a row.
Games that utilize a set of playing pieces placed alternately over pegs to achieve alignment is well known in the art. However, a game that begins with several disks stacked on a first peg in a pyramid configuration that must be moved from the first peg to a second peg by a series of strategic moves was not found in the prior art patents.
For background purposes and as indicative of the art to which the invention relates, reference may be made to the following remaining patents found in the search:
______________________________________ PATENT NO. INVENTOR ISSUED ______________________________________ 4,977,941 Henderson 18 December 1990 4,239,230 Shoptaugh 16 December 1980 2,100,280 Goldberger 23 November 1937 ______________________________________